An Open Letter to Simon Fraser University, the SFU Community, and the BC NDP on Contracting Out Cleaning Services
September 1, 2026
Dr. Joy Johnson — President and Vice-Chancellor, SFU
Dr. Dilson Etcheverry Rassier — Provost and Vice-President, Academic; Chief Budget Officer, SFU Board of Governors
Karamjeet Heer — Interim Vice-President, Finance and Administration, SFU
Jennifer Sanguinetti — Associate Vice-President, Facilities and Campus Planning, SFU
Hon. David Eby, KC, MLA — Premier of British Columbia; MLA for Vancouver–Point Grey
Hon. Jessie Sunner, MLA — Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills; MLA for Surrey–Newton
Hon. Jennifer Whiteside, MLA — Minister of Labour; MLA for New Westminster–Coquitlam
Hon. Christine Boyle, MLA — Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs; MLA for Vancouver–Little Mountain
Hon. Raj Chouhan, MLA — Speaker of the Legislative Assembly; MLA for Burnaby–New Westminster
Rohini Arora, MLA — MLA for Burnaby East; Deputy Chair, BC Government Caucus
Janet Routledge, MLA — MLA for Burnaby North; Government Caucus Whip
Joan Phillip, MLA — MLA for Vancouver–Strathcona; Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits
Shaneza Bacchus — President, CUPE 3338
Karen Ranalletta — President, CUPE BC
Simon Fraser University is currently in the process of retendering its contract for cleaning and janitorial services. Once again, SFU plans to contract out these crucial services to a third party. As faculty, we have a vested interest in the well-being of fellow workers and community members on our campus. We also have an interest in proper management of the provincial funds that enable our institution to function and meet its stated values and standards. We are calling—once again—for SFU to bring custodial staff into direct employment.
The case against outsourcing is clear and has been made repeatedly on campus: contracting out is a waste of public funds, diverting them to a for-profit company at a time when the university is cutting budgets and asking students, staff, teaching assistants, and faculty to do more with less. SFU paid $11.17 million to BEST Cleaning Pros in 2025. Based on the information that is publicly available (reported size of the bargaining unit, estimated number of part-time workers, wages and benefits in the CUPE 3338 collective agreement, BEST job posts for site supervisor positions at comparable BC institutions, estimated equipment and supply costs), our estimate is that these costs amount to between 67.5% and 72% of the contract’s total value. If that is the case, then the university could bring these workers into direct employment, improve their compensation and/or hire more workers to allow for more manageable workloads, and still have funds for redistribution to existing programs.
Beyond the misuse of public funds, outsourcing is morally dubious from a labour rights perspective. Research consistently finds that contracting out results in lower pay, worsened health and safety, inadequate benefits, and a lack of job security for workers. As a 2022 CUPE National report put it, “the cost savings supposedly delivered by outsourcing look a lot more like cost downloading. Outsourcing shifts costs from post-secondary institutions to workers, who must make ends meet on significantly lower wages now and reduced pension benefits in the future.”
The situation is even more disturbing given the repeated public reports of misconduct by the contractor, including inadequate supplies, safety issues, and unreasonably intense work for a predominantly older workforce. In the wake of the tragic passing on the job of Kulbir Kalia a year ago, The Tyee found multiple WorkSafeBC reports suggesting cleaners have faced managerial bullying and harassment for years. Worst of all, the extremely short window between the date of the RFP posting and the bid intent deadline (one week) strongly suggests BEST Cleaning Pros is being given the inside track for a contract which could extend up to another nine years. Doubling down on this contracting out strategy is fiscally unsound, morally indefensible, and a gross violation of SFU’s stated values of community engagement, equity, and inclusion.
The provincial government must play a role in resolving this situation. The BC NDP is understandably proud to have insourced 4,600 health care workers, including janitorial and cleaning staff, across the province. Premier Eby described their reintegration as part of an effort to “reverse the failed privatization policies of the past, deliver fairness to workers, and better care for people.” We are in full support of CUPE 3338 when it states that “Bringing these services in-house would allow SFU to take greater responsibility for staffing levels, working conditions, accountability and the respectful treatment of the workers who clean its campus.”
As faculty members at SFU, the signatories of this letter call on the university to halt the retendering of the cleaning services contract immediately, and to initiate the transition toward bringing cleaning workers into direct employment at our university. In the interest of both properly managing public funds and basic social justice, we call on the provincial government to intervene and facilitate the resolution of a situation which has become entirely unacceptable.